Turkey considering economic sanctions on Russia

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday his government was considering retaliatory measures against Moscow, with whom it is embroiled in a bitter dispute over Ankara’s shooting down of a Russian warplane. Davutoglu made the comments to members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.

However, Han pointed out that Russian Federation has already taken all the steps open to it in the aftermath of the crisis, adding that any further measures would not be justified by Ankara’s actions.

The countries’ bilateral relations have deteriorated sharply since Turkey last month shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber, which it said was in its airspace.

Following the incident, Russia introduced a range of sanctions targeting Turkey, ranging from restrictions on visa-free travel to a ban on imports of certain foodstuffs plus a ban on the sale of Turkish holiday packages by tourist agencies to Russians.

Mehmet Simsek, deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, has warned that the current tensions with Russian Federation could cost Turkey’s economy nine billion dollars.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has called on Moscow to “steer clear of provocations” after Turkish media broadcast images of a serviceman on the deck of a Russian warship apparently brandishing a rocket launcher as the vessel passed through Turkish waters, the Lenta.ru website reported Monday.

“I’d like to stress that the Russian ship didn’t violate a single article of the 1936 Montreux Convention regulating navigation in the straits, as well as the provisions of relevant Turkish instructions. Any crew has a legitimate right to guard and protect its ship”, the Russian diplomat said. “For some unknown reason, Ankara interpreted the incident as “provocative and posing a threat”, a report said. But he warned that “anything could be subject to assessment due to developments”.

“We now have no preparation to that end”, Bilgic told a press conference Tuesday.